One dumping ground for entire satellite city of Navi Mumbai

Turbhe: The satellite city of Navi Mumbai, with its comparatively clean roads and garbage-free surroundings, has something shameful to hide in its backyard. The one and only dumping ground for entire Navi Mumbai situated at Turbhe has been emanating foul smell and polluting the entire region. Nearly 50,000 residents and 25 industrial units are forced to live with the stench of debris of entire Navi Mumbai.
In May this year, the dumping ground was shifted from Kopar Khairane after residents complained about foul smell. But now residents of Turbhe have to bear the brunt, as the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is yet to set up the proposed bio-degradable plant there.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in September this year had directed NMMC to stop dumping municipal waste at Turbhe. The MPCB’s directive came after the agency’s earlier instruction to start a bio-degradable plant for disposing waste was not adhered to. The NMMC’s grand plan to begin a biodegradable plant with the assistance of BARC just remained on paper. The MPCB’s latest directive said that necessary alternate arrangements should be made for disposing the municipal solid waste, “till a way to dispose the waste scientifically is worked out here’’.
But residents say in spite of this directive, the NMMC continues to dump the waste at Turbhe. “Around 45 tons of wet and dry garbage are being dumped here every day. The residents of Hanuman Nagar and Indra Nagar are affected by the noxious stench,’’ said Vishal Mhatre, one of the residents.
MPCB officials say a waste-processing facility having a capacity of 400 metric ton would have alleviated the pollution level to a great extent. According to them, following an inspection, 25,000 metric tons of garbage were found dumped in the landfill cell at Turbhe. “The landfill should have been used only for non-bio degradable waste, but no separation of waste is being done here,’’ said a senior MPCB official. The officials also found a huge pond containing leachate which was being discharged into MIDC drain without any treatment.
“Even after MPCB found so much violations, the dumping is still continuing as there is a vested political interest involved,’’ alleged Mhatre. Meanwhile, Mohan Dagoankar, NMMC city engineer, claimed plans to set up the bio-degradable plant “could not materialise because the private company that was supposed to do it withdrew the contract’’.